Paintball Carrying System

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to paintball pods and devices to carry them to a paintball field, specifically to an improved paintball pod and paintball pod carrying device having the paintball pod and the paintball pod carrying device interlock to provide a quick and reliable one-handed placement and removal of the paintball pods.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to equipment used in the practice of paintballgames and more particularly to paintball pods and wearable articles tocarry these pods to a paintball game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are two main categories of paintball games, one is Turneyball andthe other is Woodsball. Turneyball is usually played in small fields.The game is fast and short. Players wear shiny clothes, hide behindinflated rubber bunkers and run fast to shoot and score points. They usepaintball pods to carry paintballs and to reload their guns during agame. These players usually throw the empty pods to the ground for laterpick up. Woodsball is played in the woods in very large public orprivate fields. A game can last up to one hour or even more. Playerscrawl in fields full of dirt, brushes, broken trees and rocks. They wearcamouflaged clothing and vests similar to the ones used by the militaryto be able to hide and shoot without letting the opposing team see them.Woodsball players, differently from Turneyball players, do want to keeptheir empty pods during a game because they would lose these pods ifleft in such irregular and large fields.

Players use several carrying devices to carry these pods to a game.Woodsball players use carrying devices made of fabric. These wearablegarments such as vests and belts have several pockets with a flap withVelcro at one end. The pods are inserted in the pockets and secured withthe flap. Sometimes the pockets have stiffening materials to keep theopening open to allow the re-insertion of the pods back in the pocket.These devices are for the most part a straight copy of military vestsand belts. Turneyball players usually wear belts made out of an elasticmaterial. The pod is inserted in between two layers stretching thematerial and creating pressure around the pod. This pressure keeps thepod in place so a flap is not necessary.

Both kinds of these pod carrying devices have disadvantages. There arepods of different sizes in the market so the elastic material ones cannever provide the right pressure to all pods. If it is too loose the podcan fall during a game. If it is too tight it becomes hard to insert andremove them. The pod holders made of fabric has problems too. Thestiffening material quickly becomes deformed making it difficult tore-insert the pod during a game. The flap also gives problems. First theuser has to open the flap, next grab the pod then empty it in thepaintball gun. To put the pod back in is even more difficult. First theplayer has to locate the pocket opening then insert the pod, then theplayer has to let go of the pod to grab the flap. While he lets go ofthe pod, the pod can slip of the pocket and fall to the ground. Thesekind of operations is very difficult to perform while hiding from enemyfire and holding the gun on the other hand.

So far there is no solution which provides a true and effortless onehand operation to load and remove paintball pods from their holders. Thecurrent designs have focused on the improvement of the carrying devicebut none have come with a solution which redesigns both the pod and thecarrying device to work in unison that is why none can provide acompletely problem free functional set.

Therefore there is a need for a system which incorporates both thepaintball pod and the paintball pod carrying device which overcomes theabove stated disadvantages. A paintball carrying system where the podsare easy to load and unload during an active paintball game using onlyone hand and where it securely holds paintball pods in place.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

This device solves the problems state above because having an accurateinterlocking between the paintball pod and the carrying device removesthe need to rely on pressure to hold the pods In place and all theassociate problems with this configuration as explained earlier. It alsoprovides a clear improvement over the devices which use a flap to securethe paintball pod in place. With this invention the user does not needto undo a flap to reach the pod. All the user has to do is to grab thepod and with a very simple hand motion remove it out of its base.Another solved problem over the prior art is that, because the base is amolded plastic piece, it is not easily deformed as normally happens withthe stiffening material used in the current fabric pod holders.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention a paintball carrying systemcomprising a wearable article with a plurality of docking bases and aplurality of paintball pods where the paintball pods have protrusionwhich can interlock with the protrusion in the docking bases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of paintball player wearing thepaintball carrying system and re-filling his paintball gun 112 byholding a paintball pod 108 in his left hand and a paintball gun 112 inhis right hand.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the paintball carrying systems havingthe docking bases 106 attached to the wearable article 100. The dockingbases are mounted at the mounting surface 110.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the paintball carrying system withthe paintball pods 108 locked in the docking bases 106

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the paintball pod having paintballs114 coming out next to the lid 122.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the docking base

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the docking base showing itsinner protrusions 136 and the mounting holes 128 on the mounting surface110. The inner protrusions showing their sharp end 132, the flat end134, the side extension 136 and the insertion opening 138.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the paintball pod 108 and the dockingbase 106, having a cut-out section of the docking base to show theinteraction between the paintball pod 108 and the docking base 106 inthe locked position.

FIG. 8-11—Additional Embodiments

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the alternative design of thepaintball pod having the outer surface 116 and the surface irregularity148. The surface irregularity shows its high slope surface 150 and itslow slope surface 152.

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the alternative design of the dockingbase showing the finger 140 with its protruding side 142, its pivot area146 and its push extension 144.

FIG. 10 shows a detail view of a cutout section of the paintball podinserted in the docking base in the locked position showing the finger140 in the locked position.

FIG. 11 shows a detail view of a cutout section of the paintball podinserted in the docking base showing the finger 140 in the un-lockedposition

Drawings—Reference Numerals

-   100 wearable article-   102 wearable article left end-   104 wearable article right end-   106 docking base-   108 paintball pod-   110 mounting extension-   112 paintball gun-   114 paintballs-   116 paintball pod outer surface-   118 paintball pod protrusion-   120 paintball pod protrusion sharp end-   122 paintball pod protrusion flat end-   124 round end-   126 docking base protrusion-   128 docking base protrusion flat end-   130 docking base inner surface-   132 docking base protrusion sharp end-   134 docking base protrusion side extension-   136 entrance opening-   138 mounting holes-   140 locking finger-   142 locking finger locking end-   144 locking finger push end-   146 locking finger pivot area-   148 paintball pod surface irregularity-   150 surface irregularity low slope side-   152 surface irregularity high slope side-   154 lid

DETAILED DESCRIPTION—FIGS. 1 to 6 PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the paintball carrying system whichhas the wearable article 100 and a plurality of docking bases 106attached to it. Preferably, the docking bases 106 are fastened to thewearable article 100 at the mounting extension 110 using pre-moldedmounting holes 138. The fasteners can be removed so that the user canadd, remove or relocate the docking bases 106 to best fit his or herneeds. Preferably, the paintball player can secure the belt to his orher body by joining the two ends 102,104 of the wearable article.Preferably, these ends have VELCRO or any other means of attaching andsecuring these two ends around a player's waist. Preferably, thewearable article 100 is in the form of a belt which the user wearsaround his waist however, other forms of the wearable article 100 can bea vest or any other kind of harness which can be attached to any part ofthe user's body such as a leg or an arm. Preferably, the wearablearticle 100 is made of fabrics stiff enough to give stable support tothe docking base 106.

FIG. 4 shows the paintball pod 108 with the lid 154 at one side and theround end 124 at the other side. The paintball pod has an outer surface116 where there is a plurality of protrusions 118 having one sharp end120 and one flat end 122. FIG. 6 shows a sectioned view of the dockingbase showing its inner surface 130 and a matching set of protrusions126. The docking base protrusions 126 also have a sharp end 132 and aflat end 128. The protrusions on the paintball pod 108 and on thedocking base 106 are designed to match and interlock together.

Preferably, both the paintball pod 108 and the docking base 106 can bemanufactured by the process of plastic injection molding and can be madeof a variety of commonly used plastics such as Nylon, Polycarbonate orPolypropylene.

The manner in which the user loads the paintball pod 108 into thedocking base 106 is by inserting the paintball pod 108 and then making asmall turn. The user holds the pod closer to the lid 154 side andinserts the paintball pod 108 round end 124 first. As the user insertsthe pod the paintball pod protrusions sharp end 120 reaches the dockingbase protrusion sharp end 132, then the matching protrusions self align.The user then keeps inserting the paintball pod 108 until the paintballpod protrusion flat end 122 passes the docking base protrusion flat end128 at which point the paintball pod 108 is free to rotate. The userthen turns it until the paintball pod protrusion reaches the dockingbase protrusion side extension 134. At this point the paintball pod 108is securely locked inside the docking base 106. To remove the paintballpod 108 the user performs the opposite set of motions.

FIGS. 8-11 Additional Embodiments

An additional embodiment is shown in FIGS. 8-11. FIG. 8 shows thepaintball pod 108 with its outer surface 116. On this outer surface 116there is a surface irregularity 148 having one side with a low slope 150and the other side with a high slope 152. FIG. 9 shows the docking basewith a locking finger 140. The locking finger 140 can pivot around thepivot area 146. The locking finger 140 has a finger push end 144 and alocking end 142. FIG. 10 shows a cut-out section showing the lockingfinger 140 in its locked position. It shows the locking end 142 againstthe high slope side 152 of the surface irregularity 148. FIG. 11 shows adetail view of the locking finger 140 in its unlocked position.

The manner of using this embodiment is by the user inserting thepaintball pod 108 round end 124 first until the surface irregularity 148passes the locking end 142. As the surface irregularity 148 passes thelocking finger 140, the locking finger 140 bends out and then springsback once the surface irregularity 148 passes through. If the pod wantsto come out the locking finger 140 would retain it by having the lockingend 142 push against the high slope side 152 of the surface irregularity148 preventing the paintball pod 108 from coming out. To remove thepaintball pod 108, the user pulls the paintball pod 108 out. If enoughforce is applied the locking finger 140 bends out allowing the paintballpod 108 to come out. The force required to pull the paintball pod 108out can be fine-tuned by changing the slope of the contact surfaces ofthe surface irregularity 148 and the locking end 142 of the lockingfinger 140 as to allow easy insertion and removal. Optionally, the usercan push on the push end 144 of the locking finger 140 to bend out thelocking finger 140 for a quitter and softer removal.

Accordingly, the reader will see that a matching set of interlocking podand base provides a quick, effortless, secure and true one handplacement and removal of paintball pods.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described,modifications can be made and other embodiments may be devised withoutdeparting from the intention of the invention and the scope of theappended claims.

1. A paintball carrying system comprising: (a) a wearable article, (b)at least one docking base, (c) at least one paintball pod, (d) saidwearable article having means for attaching itself to a paintballplayer, (e) said docking base having means for attaching to saidwearable article, (f) said paintball pod and said docking base bothhaving means for mutual interlocking
 2. The paintball carrying system ofclaim 1 wherein said wearable article is in the form of a paintball vestmade of fabric material.
 3. The paintball carrying system of claim 1wherein said wearable article means for attaching itself to a paintballplayer is in the form of a belt made of fabric material.
 4. Thepaintball carrying system of claim 1 wherein said docking base is madeof plastic, having at least one docking base inner surface and at leastone docking base protrusion extending from the docking base innersurface.
 5. The paintball carrying system of claim 1 wherein saidpaintball pod is made of plastic and has an elongated cylindrical shapehaving a lid and at least a paintball pod outer surface having at leastone paintball pod protrusion extending from the said paintball pod outersurface.
 6. The paintball carrying system of claim 1 wherein saidpaintball pod means for mutual interlocking is done though the blockinginteraction of said docking base protrusion of claim four and saidpaintball pod protrusion of claim five.
 7. A paintball carrying systemcomprising: (a) a wearable article, (b) at least one docking base, (c)at least one paintball pod, (d) said wearable article having means forattaching it to a paintball player, (e) said docking base having meansfor attaching to said wearable article, (f) said paintball pod havingmeans for locking within said docking base, (g) said docking base havingmeans for locking said paintball pod.
 8. The paintball carrying systemof claim 7 wherein said wearable article is in the form of a paintballvest made of fabric material.
 9. The paintball carrying system of claim7 wherein said wearable article means for attaching it to a paintballplayer is in the form of a belt made of fabric material
 10. Thepaintball carrying system of claim 7 wherein said paintball pod is madeof plastic and has an elongated cylindrical shape having a lid, a hollowcavity and at least an paintball pod outer surface having at least onepaintball pod surface irregularity extending from the paintball podouter surface.
 11. The paintball carrying system of claim 7 wherein saiddocking base is made of plastic, has a locking finger which can pivotand spring back to its original position.
 12. The paintball carryingsystem of claim 7 wherein said paintball pod means for locking withinthe said docking base is done though the blocking interaction of saidlocking finger of claim 11 and said paintball pod surface irregularityof claim 10.